A research blog on the history of radio, film, television and classroom media geared towards children and young audiences through most of the 20th century.
Classic children's records are still very collectible and the internet has made it possible to hear many hard to find albums. The Internet Archive is home to the "Great 78 Project" which is a "community project for the preservation, research and discovery of 78rpm records". The albums were digitized from a group of collector and archive collections. Among the thousands of "sides" the project has digitized hundreds of vintage kiddie records from the George Blood collection.
For Christmastime I want to highlight this 1955 Christmas Album by "Miss Frances" Horwich of the pioneering preschool series Ding Dong School (1952 - 1956). She introduces the album 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by ringing the shows' trademark bell. If the embedded player does not work CLICK HERE
Little Audrey, or her long-running comic book title "Playful Little Audrey" was one of my favorites of the all classic cartoon characters I was exposed to on public domain cartoon VHS tapes. In cartoons like "The Seapreme Court" and "Tarts and Flowers" you knew that once Audrey fell asleep there was something fun ahead.
In Santa's Surprise, (released December 5, 1947) which was Audrey's first appearance, she is one of a group of international children who sneak away to the North Pole to thank a tired and weary Santa Claus. This cartoon seems to have been popular enough for a reissue the following year and in 1954. Audrey would appear in her first solo cartoon "Butterscotch and Soda" in 1948. Like dozens of other pre-1950 cartoons produced by Paramount Famous Studios, Santa's Surprise would be acquired for television by the National Telefilm Associates, and some available prints of this cartoon contain their logo instead of the Paramount opening.
Frequently cited sources claim that Audrey was created to replace Marge's "Little Lulu" character when Famous Studios did not want to pay anymore to license a character. There was at least one Lulu cartoon made after Santa's Surprise so maybe someone remembered the little girl with three ponytails and decided to turn her into a star. They didn't have to look far for a new voice. Mae Questel (1908 - 1998) was already the voice of Lulu (and Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl) and she was given the part. In fact Audrey and Olive basically have the same voice. Try watching a 1950s Popeye cartoon and a Little Audrey cartoon back to back.
Today the depiction of most of the children would be deemed racist and offensive. An interesting twist to this is that Little Audrey was noted as one of the first kids comics characters to have a non-stereotypical black character with the appearance of "Tiny" in her 1950s comics.
One could also take into consideration that this was a post World War II film. In that time period there were a number of films and radio programs that tried to address racial unity, like the "problem pictures" of 1949 Pinky and Intruders In The Dust, or the Adventures of Superman radio episodes in which the Man of Steel took on the KKK.
Audiences were used to seeing films with white and black children interacting (Our Gang/Little Rascals most famously). However, a color cartoon that suggested Santa loves Chinese, Hawaiian, Black, White American, European and Russian children (and that they loved him too) may have been very special 70 years ago.
Banner for the 80th Anniversary of the children's Christmas radio serial "The Cinnamon Bear".
25 Years Ago
December 1, 1992 - Frosty Returns (not a sequel to Rankin & Bass' Frosty The Snowman, 1969) premieres on CBS with John Goodman as Frosty and has aired each year since. Co-produced by Bill Melendez, (A Charlie Brown Christmas), the child characters look like they could fit into the "Peanuts" world.
Cover to the Little Golden Book's adaption of the holiday special, by Muller and Bill Langley, From the Author's Collection
December 4, 1992 - Noel one of the last TV Christmas specials written by Romeo Muller (Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman) premieres. It is the story of a joyful Christmas ornament narrated by Charlton Heston. Muller passed away on December 30 that year at the age of 64.
50 Years Ago
News story about the new Christmas special "Cricket On The Hearth". Albany (New York) Times Union) 1967
December 18th 1967 - The Rankin Bass special "The Cricket On The Hearth", based on the Charles Dickens story, debuts as an episode of the Danny Thomas Hour. Naturally it starred the voices of Danny Thomas and his daughter Marlo Thomas. It has not been screen on TV is some time, but is available on DVD.
75 Years Ago
December 14 - 25, 1942. "What is the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse? Why Victor! Everybody knows that!" - A Christmas Story (1983)
Over the course of 6 episodes of the classic radio series, The Lone Ranger discovers that the son of his slain brother Capt. Dan Reid is still living! The younger Dan Reid would ride with The Lone Ranger and Tonto in many episodes of the popular radio series (and for a while in the television version). Another interesting crossword clue for "A Christmas Story" would have been "What is the dual identity of the Lone Ranger's nephew's son?" (Answer: "The Green Hornet")
80 Years Ago
November 26, 1937 - The Christmas radio serial "The Cinnamon Bear" is first heard. Still broadcast on radio to this day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is the longest on-going Christmas special in American broadcast history. "Rudolph" is catching up after 53 years.
125 Years Ago
December 18, 1892 - The two act ballet "The Nutcracker" premieres at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", modified by Alexandre Dumas' in his story "The Nutcracker". It originally featured choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with the still famous score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It would take a while before the music would catch on in the United States. Today Nutcrackers are widely used and displayed with the Christmas holiday.
130 Years Ago
Cover to 1959 children's edition of Sherlock Holmes stories.
December 1, 1887 - A Study In Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story appears in Beeton's Christmas Annual
TV Forecast, April 5, 1952. "The Pet Shop" co-host Gay Compton made the cover.
The Pet Shop.December 1, 1951 – March 14, 1953. WGN TV for Chicago, DuMont Network
"The Pet Shop" was a Chicago based children's series host by Gail Compton with his young daughter Gay.
In his review for Billboard, Cy Wagner described the overall production as effective and Gail Compton as having an "easy going style" in his role as host. The program took place in a fictional pet shop where children could learn about animals and pet care. Gail Compton (c. 1915 - ????) was the agricultural editor for the Chicago Tribune, and this program may have began with his experiences reporting animals & livestock.
This edition of TV Forecast features a two page article written by young Gay Comptom. She described the program in pretty good detail. It is a shame that perhaps no recordings of this series are known to exist. The show regularly featured guests and their pets, and one notable episode featured cartoonist Chester Gould (Dick Tracy).
If anyone knows what became of young Gay Compton or her father, this blogger would like to know.
Survival Status: Presumed Lost. Probably was dumped in the bay like the majority of DuMont TV programs.
Detective novels, comics, radio shows, TV programs and games geared towards young listeners and readers have existed for quite a while. Here is a look into a sub-collection of juvenile mystery materials.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Felix Sutton. 1957. Sherlock Holmes: a study in scarlet and the red-headed league. New York: Wonder Books.
Sobol, Donald J. 1963. Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: Scholastic Book Services.
Encyclopedia was a favorite growing up. He was easily the smartest of all kid detectives.
Herz, Peggy. 1977. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. New York. Scholastic Book Services.
Dann, David. 1977. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Rider Without a Head. Newark, N.J.: Peter Pan Industries.
I do not have the record that came with this book, but it was digitized and put on YouTube.
Rathbone, Basil, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, and Roy William Neill. 1985. Dressed to kill. Charlotte, NC: United American Video Corp.
Not a "juvenile" version of the Holmes character, but Basil Rathbone may be the most recognizable of all Sherlock Holmes actors, and these films were very accessible to young audiences on television and home video
Dubowski, Cathy East. 1996. The case of the Sea World adventure: a novelization. New York: Scholastic.
The Olsen Twins' Sea World outing aired on TV as I recall and it was enjoyable family special on ABC TV. It doesn't seem that any of the Mary-Kate & Ashley detective films be on DVD for a new generation anytime soon.
It has been a while, but it is time for another classic "edutainment" comic story. From February 1948 here is "The Story of Louis Braille: Let There Be Light", originally published in Real Life Comics a long running series from The Nedor/Standard publishers. The author and pencils are un-credited.
